With most of next year’s programme already booked, Kunst!Rasen 2026 is already very much in the starting blocks as this week’s press conference made clear. After last year’s 20,000 Euro fine for exceeding the sound limit by a decibel, it was also nice to see that the K!R Team is not despondent – instead they were proudly flying the banner ‘A Little too loud! – a little too cool!’. More on that theme later. Good to hear though that lots of cool things will be happening in July/August 2026 – from concerts to take up the gap left by the likes of the ‘Panama Festival’, to a regular Podcast series capturing behind the scenes life at Bonn’s top outdoor venue.
Whilst some Bonn Beuel-siders have voiced criticism of the sound as too loud, visitors to Kunst!Rasen have complained that It’s too quiet. Both will be happy to hear then that the sound barriers have once again been analysed and improved, so that in 2026 it will actually be quieter outside, but can actually be somewhat louder inside (by 1.5 db) for the awaited 120,000 visitors. Already a record at this stage is the fact that 30,000 tickets have been sold for next year, thanks in no small part to the announced appearances of Roland Kaiser (9,000) and Nick Cave (6,000).
With the increasing cancellation of local music Festivals, it’s good news too that Kunst!Rasen is now offering its stage to bands hit by the cancellations. To that end, 28 August sees a new Festival day ‘652 Rheinkilometer Open Air‘ and 29 August the ‘Oh Wie Schön’ Festival featuring, amongst others, Druckluft. Both are ‘life-jackets’ for the cancelled Bonn festivals ‘Panama Open Air’ and ‘Jeck im Sonnensching’. It’s sad that Kunst!Rasen has to step in though, and a sign of how undervalued popular culture is by the City of Bonn, which otherwise seems happy to throw millions of Euros into Classical Music and the City’s Theatre. The Beethovenhalle is a prime example, costing the citizens of Bonn millions for a venue that is now too expensive for most Bonn organizations to afford as an event location. It shouldn’t be left to an organization like KunstRasen with costs of around 6 million Euros and sponsorship of a comparatively meagre 140,000 Euros to step in surely?
Outside of the then Mayor Jürgen Nympsch offering the present location to replace the former Kunstmuseum stage in 2012, Bonn City has never been truly supportive of the Kunst!Rasen, as proven earlier this year when former Mayor Katja Dörner promised that the 20,000 Euro fine incurred for an extra decibel over the limit by Lynyrd Skynyrd would be refunded via investment in a KR project in 2026. Dörner, like the promise, is seemingly history under new Mayor Guido Deus. Kunst!Rasen has no option now other than to appeal against the fine.
As a result of this long-standing lack of support, the KR Organizers made it clear that they are going their own way. Should they be successful in their appeal, they plan to let the money be invested in other local event organizers such as Pantheon and Springmaus who are also struggling to survive without City support. The Kunst!Rasen Verein will also have a small stage available for use by local organizations and events in the Bonn area.
You can already listen to a Kunst!Rasen Podcast featuring behind the scenes audio and video. The three men behind it are Simon Slomma, Dieter Roesberg and Stephan Kern and their enthusiasm was plain at the Press Conference. It hasn’t been plain sailing to get it off the ground however as Ernst-Ludwig Hartz revealed. Due to logistical reasons for example where some musicians barely set foot at KR before the show itself and leave minutes afterwards (he recounts that some don’t even do soundchecks in person anymore). But a few examples from last year that were played at the press-conference suggest that if enough people, and bands, take part, it could add an extra, fun, dimension to the Concert Season. The Podcast idea shows that Bonn Kunst!Rasen are interested in presenting new ideas alongside their support for the local music scene. Lessons for Bonn City Council to learn from perhaps?
The story so far…
